Wolf Moon
by BunBunBabe
Summary: Sequel to Wolf Collar Peter and Neal are on the case of an explorer who 87 years ago hid a treasure in the city and hid the clues to the location in a map hidden in multiple paintings that when laid side by side they show the location.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Neal walked in a circle bouncing his daughter on his hip as he looked over at Peter asleep on the couch with the twins asleep on his chest. Keeping his voice down; he looked over at Elizabeth with his other son. "All four of them teething at the same time, not to mention the twins with an ear infection," he said stopping when he felt his infant daughter calm down and fall asleep. "We're getting through it Neal, although I caught Christian chewing on the table again while you were transformed last night," Elizabeth said shifting the baby in her arms. "Yeah they're all chewing on what they can; I'll replace what I can… it's amazing we've survived eight months with them," Neal joked as he looked up toward the door.

Walking over to the door Neal juggled the sleeping infant in his arms and opened the door before the unexpected guests rang the doorbell. Elizabeth got up from the chair she was sitting on and smiled. "Robert… Karen… this is unexpected… what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked with a smile as she maneuvered the baby in her arms better as she looked over her shoulder at Peter who was getting up with ease holding the twins against his chest. "Mom… Dad it's good to see you, but what are you doing in Brooklyn; it's a four hour drive for you guys from the farm?" Peter asked curiously as his mother bustled into the house with an overnight bag and her husband close behind.

"We're here visiting John and Maria; ever since they moved to the city to be with their daughter and her family in Manhattan we wanted to come see how they were doing, but we couldn't stay long. Those children we're just little hell raisers, and it turns out Janet stopped taking her family to church; she's just asking for Satan to take them over. So I said to your father we should come see you and see if the good Lord has given you children yet, and from the looks of it He has…" Karen said looking at the four infants. Neal visibly bristled behind the guest's backs when they started to coddle his children. Peter gave Neal a look when his parents weren't looking silently telling his mate to keep his mouth shut for now. "You guys were just here last year for Christmas," Peter said looking at his parents.

Elizabeth plastered a smile on and slid over to Neal side and stood beside him to keep him calm since she knew how Neal was protective of his children when strangers were around. "So names… I need names for these little God given angels," Karen said smiling at the fact she was a grandmother. "Well these are the twins Gabriel and Christian, Elizabeth is holding Michael and Neal has our daughter Willow," Peter said giving a small smirk at his little in joke seeing Neal clam down at the acknowledgement even if it was secret. "What good strong names for them, and who is that young man by the way?" Karen asked looking over at Neal putting him in the spotlight.

Smirking Neal decided to put on his best charm. "Neal Caffrey ma'am I work with Peter. Elizabeth and Peter took me in when I needed help and to pay him back I help with the housework on the weekends and take care of the children," Neal said giving his best smile hiding the fact he already disliked the woman even though she really was his children's grandmother. "Caffrey…that's a good Irish Catholic name, well I'm just glad Peter did the Lord's good work and took in someone who needed help," she said with a smile.

Feeling some tension in the air Peter cleared his throat and closed the front door with his foot and led his parents to the couch. "Ignore the mess we've been dealing with four teething babies and it's been pretty hectic," he said sitting on the chair and keeping an eye on Neal. Elizabeth smiled as she passed Michael to Neal. "Let me get some tea going," she said heading into the kitchen. "Peter I've been meaning to ask, where do the children sleep? I've seen that guest room it's not that big…." Robert said. "Actually the nursery is in the finished basement with Neal's room," Peter said as the twins slowly woke up and began to fuss.

* * *

When the tea was ready Peter and Neal put the children down so they could crawl around and play with the toys scattered around the living room while they sat at the table and talked. "So Neal, do you have a special lady friend, with your looks you must get all the girls throwing themselves at you," Karen said with a smile as she watched Peter and Neal take their seats at the table next to one another. "Actually work keeps me really busy as do the kids," Neal said nursing his tea. "Well I could set you up with this wonderful girl her name is Cathy, sweet girl she goes to our church, very devout girl you would like her," Karen said smiling. Peter looked at Neal giving him a silent warning not to make trouble. "I'm not a big church goer really so we probably wouldn't get along very well," Neal said as he smiled and slipped his hand that was on his lap onto Peter's thigh and gave it a squeeze as he kept his poker face.

Peter bit his tongue to keep silent as he sipped his tea. "Mom, you don't have to set Neal up on a date, he's a real lady killer at work he's just acting like he's not," Peter said as he felt the fingers dance up his thigh. Neal smirked and moved his hand away and stood up from the table after a minute of teasing. "I'm going to bring the children downstairs to change them and give the twins their medicine," Neal remarked as he wrangled the twins. Getting up Peter helped grabbed the other two children and brought them to the nursery as well and put them in the playpen with their brothers before walking over to Neal. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack up there?" Peter asked.

"Not a heart attack…but something else maybe…" Neal said grabbing onto Peter and pulling himself closer. "I wonder what your parents would say to their son being a werewolf… and such a sexy one at that," Neal said playing with the collar of Peter's shirt. Grabbing Neal's hand Peter held it. "Behave Neal just this once, I promise to make it worth your while once they leave," Peter promised as he pulled Neal's hand up and kissed the inside of his wrist knowing it was one of his many weak points. "Mmm…Peter you said we need to hold off till they leave," Neal said trying to restrain himself. "We'll hear them as they come downstairs," Peter said as he moved from Neal's wrist to the side of his neck. Trying to keep sanity Neal knew that it was a test to see he would crack first. "You're not playing fair Peter… Neal whispered huskily as he tried to keep his senses sharp as Peter bit down harder. Feeling like a lamb being stolen by a wolf Neal went limp at the pressure point being bitten on.

Smirking into the bite Peter pulled away and saw Neal's blown pupils and chuckled. "Later we'll continue… but right now get the kids changed," Peter said smacking Neal's ass playfully as he went back upstairs. Neal groaned softly as he started to change one diaper after another. Giving Gabriel and Christian their ear medicine Neal sighed softly as four sets of eyes watched him from the playpen. "Your dad can be such a tease…" Neal remarked as he crouched down so he was at eye level with his children as they watched him with rapt attention. Neal smiled softly and got up and leaned over the edge of the playpen and managed to get a hold on all four infants and bring them upstairs. Putting them down on the floor by their toys Neal returned to the living room.

"Sorry about that they can be fussy after a diaper change and when one starts they all start," Neal said as he sat down on the open chair as he watched the children playing. "Peter you and Elizabeth need to move into a bigger house one for you and the kids with a yard," Karen said. "Also I've been dying to ask, how come you didn't tell us about your bundles of joy?" she asked Elizabeth bit her lip as she looked at Peter for an answer. "We actually didn't know until they were born; they were a pretty big surprise," Peter said as he patted Elizabeth's hand.

Watching the children play Karen smiled at them. "They are so cute… oh come here sweetie," Karen said as she picked up Michael and held him," You are just such a cutie you look just like father," she said looking at her son with a smile as Michael started to whine about his teething. "I have their teething toys in the kitchen," Elizabeth said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed a teething ring and brought it out and gave it to Michael for him to chew on. Karen smiled as Michael as he looked up at her and continued to chew on the ring to help with his teething pain. "Did mommy get you that? Can you point to your mama?" Karen asked seeing the wide eyed infant look around the small group and pointing a tiny digit across the coffee table at Neal.

Karen looked across the coffee table at Neal then over to her son. "Peter…what's going on?" Karen asked in shock as she tried to understand what was going on. Neal thought quickly and smiled. "He's a little joker…I think he's just a little confused is all," Neal lied with a million watt smile hoping to keep his children's grandparents in the dark still. "Well he is just precious anyway; of course you're just being over stimulated in your tiny brain. Oh I could just eat you up you're so adorable…I think since we weren't here for you when they were born we should stay for a few days to help out with the little ones," Karen said not seeing the shared look between the three younger adults.

"Mom you guys don't have to do that, we've got a good handle on the kids, and besides what about the farm?" Peter remarked hoping to keep his parents at arm's length about his secret. "Your brother is at the farm for the week so we can stay and I won't take no for an answer," she said smiling. Elizabeth stood up and clapped her hands together. "Well if you two are staying for a week then I need to go to the store and pick up some more food, do we need anything else?" she asked looking over at Neal. "Yeah, we're low on wipes again," Neal remarked as he moved from the chair and pulled the twins apart from roughly playing with one another.

* * *

When he was finished Neal made his way into the kitchen for a glass of wine and poured himself a full glass and started to take a long sip from it before he refilled the open space before corking the bottle and heading back to the living room. Sitting on the couch Neal worked on his wine and fought his urge to climb onto Peter's lap and relieve stress with him. "So how did you meet Peter anyway I'm curious?" Robert asked looking at Neal who jumped slightly at the question. "Uh Peter actually hit me with his car one night and out of guilt he took care of me," Neal said telling the truth. Peter chuckled at the memory of the night he hit Neal with his car. "Biggest baby in the world when we patched him up," Peter remarked with a chuckle. Neal mock laughed as he finished his wine and got up from the couch to bring his glass to the kitchen.

Turning around at a familiar scent he yanked Peter from the open doorway so they were out of sight. "Peter we're transforming tonight do you really think we should have your parents here?" Neal asked in a hushed tone as he started leaning against the counter. "I don't want them here but it's too suspicious to just throw them out now, we'll just have to be careful maybe keep the kids in the basement for the whole night and both go to bed early tonight and in separate beds…" Peter said seeing the dejected look on Neal's face. "Hey it's only until they leave…then we can make out on the couch whenever you want, except of course when the game is on," Peter said seeing Neal's lips turn up in a sly smile.

Catching the look Peter leaned in and put his hand over Neal's on the counter, their noses just lightly touching. "I recognize that look, and no… I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than do that right now and get caught…" Peter remarked seeing that Neal wasn't going to make it easy on him. "Where's your sense of adventure Peter?" Neal asked with a smirk. Sighing he pulled back and rolled his eyes. "Fine…but keep your hands to yourself," he added as he leaned in closer and kept Neal's right hand pinned to the counter still curling his fingers around Neal's. "Really think you two should be doing that?" Elizabeth asked making the two men jump. Neal turned red and scooted from the kitchen and placed himself back on the couch fidgeting under their guest's gazes.

"So Neal what do you do for a living, you said you work with Peter but you didn't elaborate…" Robert said watching the younger man. "Oh I consult for the FBI when they need me to authenticate artwork, signatures, the basic stuff," Neal said feeling a little at ease. "A consultant… impressive you must make quite a bit of money, probably enough for your own place, better than living in a basement…" Karen added to the conversation. Neal could easily read the conversation between the lines; they wanted him to get out of the house and away from their grandchildren. At that moment Neal decided to have his own little fun. Pulling his left leg up to his chest yanked his left pant leg up. "Well I can't move out for a few more years, being the FBI's lap dog and all; but that's what I get for being an ex con," Neal said with a true broad smile as he leaned back against the couch.

Robert and Karen stared at the younger man sitting before them on the couch. "Peter! Peter, are you serious in letting an ex-convict around your children…"Karen yelled as she rushed to the kitchen. Robert stayed seated on his chair and looked at Neal. Peter walked into view and looked at Neal with a glare only to get a careless shrug from Neal. "Neal's not dangerous he was arrested for nonviolent white collar crimes," Peter said defending Neal as he walked back to the living room with a beer in his hand.

Karen followed Peter and stood by her husband's chair and put her hands on his shoulders. "Peter…he's still a criminal and should not be allowed near your children! I'm sure Elizabeth has some worries of her on about this situation as well, especially if he starts to teach them his sinning ways of being a con-man," Karen said looking at Neal who had sat as still as a statue. "If your implying that I slept with Elizabeth you're way far off," Neal chimed in getting four sets of eyes looking at him and making him feel uncomfortable forcing him to be quiet. "Okay, everyone let's take a nice long break and eat dinner while it's still hot," Elizabeth said heading for the kitchen.

Jumping up Neal followed right behind her to help set the table and get the highchairs out for the little ones. Peter followed behind Neal and started to grab the kids off the floor and place them in their chairs. Keeping an eye on the clock Neal ignored his own food as he started to cut up the precooked chicken Elizabeth had bought for dinner and filled four small bowls and put them on the trays of the high chairs. After a brief blessing they began to eat in silence.

* * *

After a very tense dinner Neal offered to do the dishes with the time they had left before they transformed for the night. Rinsing the dishes Neal sighed as he looked out the back window at the small yard. "What are you thinking about?" Peter asked as he helped carry the last of the dishes into the kitchen. "Just some stuff, we've got less than an two minutes before we have to turn in for the night," Neal said. "I know you Neal... when you think about stuff it's never good, now what's wrong?" Peter asked as he took the plate from Neal's hands and put it down in the sink and shut the water off. Sighing Neal knew he wasn't going to get away from the conversation now. Leaning against the counter he looked down at the floor. "Your parents don't like me already how do you think they will take it when they find out I'm their mother and we're werewolves…" Neal replied feeling rejected.

"I promise everything will go fine…because you and the children are important to me," Peter said as he pulled Neal close and looked at him. "I'm not going to abandon you no matter what they say about us," Peter said as he rubbed Neal's back and used his free hand to tilt Neal's chin up as he leaned in and kissed Neal. Letting out a squeak of surprise Neal grabbed onto Peter like he was going to disappear. Tilting his head back Neal groaned and closed his eyes with a small moan. Breaking apart for air Neal blinked a couple times as he tried to keep his knees from buckling. "We've got three minutes Peter we have to get the kids downstairs," Neal said as he kept close to Peter.

Jumping at the sound of a scream Peter and Neal rushed out of the kitchen and found Karen sitting on the couch beside Elizabeth hyperventilating, looking where she was pointing Peter and Neal knew what she had seen the kids transform into their werewolf forms. Still wearing their outfits the puppies began to play with one another tugging on their clothes and ripping them. Peter looked at his parents as he crouched down and changed forms and slipped out of his clothes with some help from Neal. Crouching down just as he began to change Neal panted as he wiggled out of his clothes once he fully transformed. Trotting around the room Neal shook off as he sat down on his haunches and used his paw to pin one of the pups down and used his mouth to pick them up and bring them to Elizabeth to save what remained of their clothes. Peter kept the puppies corralled as his parents just gaped at them.

"Looks like I've got to do all the explaining for now," Elizabeth remarked as she folded the last of the baby clothes on the table. "Karen… Robert, I don't know how to say this other than, Peter, Neal and the children are werewolves…Neal was a werewolf first, then he bit Peter to save his life… Neal became his werewolf mate and then they had the kids…" Elizabeth said seeing the shock and horror on their guest's faces. Karen looked at Neal and Peter as they sat there looking at her. Neal bumped heads with Peter and nuzzled against him. "There is no such thing as werewolves; He would never allow such a thing…"Karen said seeing the two adult wolves looking at her.

Moving slowly Peter moved to his mother's side and sat up placing a paw on her leg and looked at her. Looking over at Neal Karen stood up and walked over to Neal. "This is your fault you ruined my son's life you miserable beast of burden. Take your demon spawn and get out of here…" Karen yelled standing between Peter and Neal. Whining Neal lowered his ears and head as he turned and nudged the pups toward the door. "Karen…enough of this… I'm tired of this judgmental bullshit, but if you're going to let your shortsightedness go after our son and what makes him happy then I want a divorce," Robert said standing there letting Peter go around them to his family. Stopping Neal from going any farther Peter licked Neal across the muzzle. Looking up Neal lowered himself so he was lying down to show everyone he was staying.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own I don't make money I would like some reviews though and if you have friends who like fanfics and slash then send them my way.**

**Chapter 2**

Karen walked downstairs the next morning and heard voices in the kitchen. Turning the corner she found Peter and Neal in the small kitchen area talking quietly. Peter turned and looked at his mother and nodded to her still miffed about the night before when she had tried to throw his family out of his house. Neal stood to Peter's side staying slightly hidden behind Peter with his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Why don't you go get dressed for work, I need to have a few words with my mother," Peter said softly as he kissed Neal before pushing him toward the basement door. Looking back at Peter for a moment Neal hesitated for a moment before he went downstairs to his room to dress.

Waiting until he heard Neal reach the bottom of the stairs Peter put his coffee cup down. "Mom, I know you're not happy with how you found out about us and the kids but they are my family and I love them, and I want you to love them too," Peter said standing in the kitchen by his mother. "I'll be honest Peter I don't know if I can accept them in my heart, but I can try and be civil to them. It's just a lot to take in at once, the children, the fact that you slept with another man and that you are all werewolves. I'll promise you that I won't mistreat any of them," Karen said with a smile. Peter leaned against the counter just as Neal appeared in a charcoal grey suit and a black fedora. Walking over Peter grabbed Neal and pulled him quickly into a kiss forcing Neal to hold his hat to keep it from falling off his head. Pulling away when he was sure Neal was lightheaded Peter smirked at the bruised lips and blown pupils. "What was that for?" Neal asked slightly stunned. "Because you look so sexy in that suit," Peter replied as he left to get ready for the day. Neal washed the coffee mugs out and put them away as he felt Karen's eyes on him.

"I know you're not fond of me or want me anywhere near Peter but we love each other and everything we do now is for our children," Neal said as he walked out of the kitchen and checked on the children sound asleep in their playpen after playing all night. Leaving the house to beat traffic Neal chewed on his bottom lip as he got into the passenger side of the car. Driving to the office Neal stayed quiet with worry about leaving their children with Peter's mother. "She's not going to do anything to them Neal, you get so paranoid when we leave them at home," Peter said taking Neal's hand in his and kissing the back of it. "My mom told me that she is just having trouble accepting all that she saw yesterday," Peter said taking Neal's hand in his and kissing the back of it. "I still don't have to like it, Kramer was found not guilty of all the charges and Adler is still alive out there I know it," Neal said getting agitated.

Pulling up to a stoplight that Peter knew was a long one he put the car in park and grabbed Neal by his face and forced him to look into his eyes. "Vincent Adler is dead Neal… he's not going to hurt us, and Phil may have gotten off on a technicality but the restraining order will keep him away from us, I promise," Peter said as he let Neal go and put the car back in drive before taking off when the light turned green "A restraining order is just a piece of paper; it doesn't do much good," Neal grumbled as he hunkered down and looked out the window as they neared the FBI building. Parking safely and getting out of the car Peter walked beside Neal as they went inside. Keeping a small gap between as they walked into the lobby Neal shamelessly flirted with some of the female agents walking by knowing that it made Peter very jealous and usually resulted in mind blowing sex. Peter grabbed Neal's elbow and walked him into the elevator and pushed him inside under the camera that he had moved to keep the corner out of view.

"Agent Burke… if you're going to do something to me then you might want to be quick," Neal remarked as he stayed tucked in the corner under the camera. With the elevator rising to the twenty-first floor Peter pulled away from Neal just as the doors opened. Walking out of the elevator with Neal on his heels they walked into the White Collar Division. Peter looked up toward the offices and saw Hughes double point at them to come up to his office. Walking up to the office; the two men stopped in the doorway and stood there seeing two other men in the office as Hughes sat behind his desk. "Burke, Caffrey, meet Agents John Warwick and Marcus Yun," Hughes said introducing the two men in suits. Peter shook both men's hands and saw Neal hanging back. "You have to forgive him he's shy," Peter said as the two agents looked over at Neal. Peter turned to his boss and gave him a questioning look as to why the other agents were there.

* * *

Motioning for everyone to sit down Hughes got up and closed his office door for privacy. "Warwick and Yun are from D.C. Art Crimes they're here for Caffrey or more for his insight on one of their cases," Hughes said. Neal took the file they were handing to him. "Four, eight by ten paintings have been stolen from museums, galleries and private homes," Yun said as Neal started to flip through the files on the stolen paintings. "Is there anything special about these paintings?" Peter asked looking over the files from beside Neal. "Yeah… there is, there is a legend attached to them, if you lay them out carefully corner to corner you can find the exact location of a chest of jewelry and gold worth a few million," Neal said looking the stack of insurance photos of each painting over. "How do you know that?" Hughes asked looking at the young man.

"Because I was planning on stealing them myself six years ago, or really Adler wanted me to do it for him but we hit a snag when we could only locate about half of them," Neal said keeping his eyes on the photos. "I want you to tell us everything you know about these paintings and how you had planned to get them," Hughes demanded. Neal looked up at the four sets of eyes looking at him. Putting the photos on the corner of Hughes' desk he sighed. "Alright, the paintings are done by an artist who was also an explorer in the nineteen twenties named Jacob Markus Jr. J.J. Markus traveled the world on his own dime during the depression and saw more of the world than anyone else at the time, according to legend he found a ship filled with jewelry and gold apparently he hid the valuables he found somewhere and then painted a map for his family. But after he died the paintings were sold off after his will was never found," Neal said reciting the story from memory.

Peter leaned back in his seat and looked at the two agents watching Neal. "So if someone has all the paintings then it's only a matter of time before they find the treasure and it's all over," Warwick said with a defeated sigh. Neal smirked and chuckled "You would be correct if they had all the paintings, but you said only ten were missing. The truth is that there are twenty paintings to the map not ten of them," Neal said handing the file back over to the guest agents. "The last I heard two are in Boston, one is in Baltimore, three are in Manhattan, and the rest we never could really find so I assume they are in very private collections or auction houses somewhere," he added hoping it was enough information. Warwick was busy jotting down everything Neal was saying and looked up when Neal stopped speaking. "Go on… I can tell there is something you're not telling us," he added looking right into Neal's eyes.

Smirking Neal shrugged his shoulders. "I've told you everything I know about the paintings. It was Vincent who knew more but he met an unfortunate end almost a year ago…I'm not even sure where they can be found around here," he lied keeping up his poker face. Peter could tell Neal wasn't being honest about the paintings. "Alright, I think that's all we're going to get out of him," Yun remarked as he stood up and put the file back in his bag. Joining his partner Warwick stood up and shook hands with Peter and Neal. "We'll see you around; we need to get started with this information," he said as they left the office. Rising from his chair Peter waited for Neal join him as they walked into Peter's office. "Care to tell me why you lied to the other two?" Peter asked as he sat behind his desk. Neal fidgeted under Peter's gaze and moved over so he was sitting on the edge of the desk close to Peter that looked professional but still intimate. "I didn't lie…I just didn't tell them the full truth is all," Neal said with his most charming smile.

"So what is the full truth?" Peter asked looking up at Neal. Sighing Neal shifted a bit uncomfortably under Peter's gaze. "I…I…I can't say right now," Neal said looking down at the carpet. Peter moved his hand onto Neal's leg and rubbed it softly until Neal looked at him. "You can tell me, I promise anything you say I won't get mad at," he said hoping it was nothing serious.

Looking into Peter's eyes Neal felt his body stiffen as he tried to look away with little success. "I know where the last four paintings are, and because of that the one stealing the paintings will come after me or you or even the kids… I'm scared Peter… and from what I can guess, they are here in the city otherwise Yun and Warwick wouldn't be here," Neal remarked. "Nothing will happen to us or the kids Neal, if they even think about it I'll rip them to pieces," Peter promised softly as he moved his hand just as the office door opened.

Diana walked in and smirked at the two. "If you two aren't busy this just came in. A guy came home from work late last night and found that the painting above his mantel was missing," she said unaware of the other case. Peter grabbed the file and opened it and looked at the picture as Neal peeked over the top of the folder to get a look for himself. "It's one of them," Neal said softly as he leaned back. Peter looked at his agent and nodded. "We'll handle this, keep me updated if you hear anything else," Peter said as he closed the case file and put it on his desk. Diana nodded and left the office leaving Peter and Neal alone again. "That's one of the original three that were here in the city and that means there are only two left," Neal said softly his leg twitching a bit in worry. "It's okay Neal, we'll keep our senses sharp especially around anyone we don't know and if it will make you feel better I'll call my mother and have her and my father keep the kids indoors today and an eye out for something suspicious," Peter said seeing Neal nod and calm down a bit.

* * *

Grabbing the receiver off the cradle Peter dialed his home number and waited for someone to pick up. After the other end picked up Peter spoke with his mother for a minutes before hanging up. "Okay she agreed to keep an eye out on the kids," Peter said as he put the phone back down. "Thanks…I need a coffee…you want anything?" Neal asked as he got off the desk. "My usual, and a couple donuts," Peter said chuckling. Rolling his eyes Neal leaned over and gave Peter a peck on the cheek as he fixed his hat and left the office. Riding the elevator down to the lobby and heading out to the coffee shop he frequented on a daily basis a block away. Walking into the quaint shop the wave of fresh brewed coffee hit Neal's sensitive nose making him tingle as he walked up to the counter where the girl behind the counter had his and Peter's regular orders. Adding the donuts to the order Neal paid and took the drinks and bag of donuts.

Leaving the coffee shop, Neal sipped his coffee while he waited for the crosswalk to change. Standing there he felt as if he was being watched. Crossing the street Neal stopped in front of the jewelry store. Using the window as a mirror Neal looked at his reflection to see what was behind him. Scanning the crowds of people walking past him for any signs of someone following him Neal left the jewelry store and began to walk down the block back to the FBI building. Trying to shake the feeling of being followed as he neared the building Neal increased his speed slightly until he reached the lobby doors. Once inside the lobby he let out the breath he was holding and made his way to the elevators.

Returning to the office Neal made a beeline for Peter's office and gave him his coffee and donuts. As Peter opened the bag Neal sipped his coffee lost in his own thoughts before he shook his head. "What… sorry I wasn't listening," Neal said softly. "Hey is everything alright?" Peter asked getting up and seeing that Neal was avoiding looking at him. "I just had this feeling I was being followed by someone…it freaked me out is all. It felt like the night Vincent attacked me and turned me," Neal said softly. "Even if you were being followed Neal no one is crazy enough to try anything in a building filled with FBI agents; I promise that you're in no danger. Now come on we have to go," Peter said as he quickly downed his coffee and scarfed the last donut down making Neal smirk as he wiped the powder off his mouth.

Grabbing his gun and badge Peter led Neal out of the office and to the elevators. Hitting the down button Peter tapped his foot as they waited. When the doors opened Peter held his hand out to hold the doors while Neal walked into the elevator car and walked in behind him. Not paying any attention to the man standing in the corner of the elevator Peter hit the button for the parking garage. As they traveled down the building Neal took in a calming breath but froze when he recognized the scent of familiar cologne. Using the doors as a mirror Neal looked at the other occupants face only to see the other man had his head down. Looking up at the numbers as they counted down Neal saw they were only two floors from the parking garage.

As the elevator dropped another floor Peter had a gut feeling something was wrong but before he had time to react he felt a jolt of pain in his side as he fell to the floor of the elevator and blacked out. Spinning around Neal looked at the man and kept eye contact with him as he started to kneel down as the elevator doors opened in the parking garage.

"Ah...don't…get moving…" he said shooing Neal toward the door a semiautomatic gun in his hand. "I'm not going with you…" Neal said as he slowly stood up.

"Move…now…unless you want something to happen to Michael, Gabriel, Christian and Willow," the man said. Neal froze at the mention of his children before he started to move out of the elevator and into the parking garage. Looking back toward the elevator Neal hit the ground hard as he was pistol whipped.

* * *

Groaning softly Neal opened his eyes and looked around; blinking the pain away in his head Neal tried to stand up only to feel his anklet was missing and replaced with an ankle cuff and chain that was anchored to the wall pillar next to the chair. "Look who's finally awake…I was beginning to think you were going to sleep all day," the man said as he sat down in a folding chair in front of Neal. "So…it's been a while Nick…or is it Neal? You know the last time we saw each other you're name was Nick Halden… and now I learn that wasn't your real name," he added with a smirk. Neal looked away for any signs of where he was. "Like I was really going to tell you who I really was; when we first met Jake, I was trying to get information out of you about your grandfather…and the location of the paintings," he said looking at the man before him. Jacob snorted a bit and used his foot to tug the chain a bit testing the strength of the pillar. "Yeah that's the curse of being a Markus…" Jacob said as he got up from the chair and pushed it against the wall.

"You've probably noticed that you're not healing as fast as you usually do; in humans the dose of wolfs bane that I gave you would kill them in two to four hours but since you're a werewolf it will take you ten days to die. I diluted it with saline to give you some extra time to tell me where those last four paintings are and maybe I can get you to a hospital in time so you can stay alive and watch your four adorable babies grow up," Jacob said smirking. Neal looked away and felt hot tears prick at the back of his eyes. "You're insane… you just drugged me without asking anything…if I die there is nothing that will be able to stop Peter from coming after you and sending you to hell," Neal spat as he stood up and walked as far as the chain would let him. "Call it incentive… and here is something I promise I will do, you deny giving me what I want and I'll make this concoction airborne and release it in your home I doubt your pups would last ten minutes with a concentrated dose," Jacob said as Neal rushed him only to step back out of his reach.

Neal lowered his hand to his side and paced in the small space he had. "If you swear never to touch my children or harm them I'll get you the last four paintings," Neal said softly as he started to feel lightheaded. "Smart choice Neal, but you're a con man I don't know if I really can trust you to not just rush to a hospital and stiff me on the paintings," Jacob said as he used a full force kick to throw Neal back into the pillar knocking him out cold. Smirking down at the other man he kicked him again in the stomach for good measure before pulling Neal's phone out of his pocket to take pictures and sending them to Peter's cell phone.

* * *

Peter growled lightly as another doctor came in to check on him. "I told you I'm fine, now clear me to leave and get out of my way," Peter demanded as he heard the familiar chirp of a text message. Shoving away from the doctor he grabbed his cell phone and looked at the photos. Ignoring the doctor telling him to get back into bed Peter yanked the needle out of his arm and made his way out of the emergency room only to come face to face with his boss and team. "Peter…what's wrong?" Hughes asked steadying the other man on his feet.

"Neal… I got a text and a photo of Neal unconscious. I don't know what's happened but I have to find him now," Peter said side stepping his coworkers to get out of the hospital.

"Where are you going to start looking, we've already started looking for Neal since his anklet went off line," Diana said following Peter as he left against medical advice.

"I'm going back to the office and look for clues myself," Peter said as he managed to hail a cab. As he started the door Diana stopped him and slammed the door shut and waved the cab off. "We've already identified the man in the elevator, Warwick and Yun recognized him right away. It turns out he's J.J. Markus' grandson… he's got record and everyone who isn't stuck with high priority cases is out looking for Neal," Diana said as she tried to keep Peter calm.

"That's not good enough! Neal knows the locations of the paintings needed for the map that leads to a treasure and if this guy is the grandson he has the other paintings. He'll stop at nothing to get the last four paintings locations from him," Peter said as it dawned on him. "The photos came from Neal's phone! I need his phone to be traced down to the last square foot," Peter said as he looked toward the doors as Jones came out. Rushing up to the other agent Peter explained everything to the other man.

Jones nodded as he headed to the parking lot with the other two agents and got into Diana's car as they headed back to the office. Peter got out of the car when they arrived and the elevators where a small spot of blood on the concrete. Diana came up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder calmly. "We'll find him…if you let your thoughts get clouded then you won't be able to stay on this case. Hughes will take you off the case the second you show that you're being too hot headed," Diana warned as she pulled Peter to the elevator and brought him back up to the office with Jones. Sitting at Neal's desk Peter waited as Jones began to run a search on Neal's phone. Grabbing the framed photo of Neal with their children Peter smiled at the memory of the day they took the photo. Lost in his thoughts Peter looked up when Diana walked over to him. "We've located Neal's cell it's not far actually," she said handing the address to Peter.

Reading the address Peter got up from the chair and left the office without a word, running on adrenaline he tore down the stairs, but as soon as he hit the lobby he calmed himself down as he walked out of the building and headed south toward Neal's location. He knew the address; it was an old pub that was frequented by many agents before it shut down for renovations. Looking around for anyone watching him Peter slammed his shoulder against the front door as he moved into the pub silently and crept toward Neal's scent in the basement. Freezing at the top of the stairs Peter grabbed a hammer off one of the tables and moved quietly down the stairs to the billiard bar. Slipping down into the darkness Peter could only smell one scent in the air. Moving toward Neal's scent using the sparse lighting to see; Peter found Neal curled in on himself on the floor.

"Neal…Neal… open your eyes," Peter said as he kneeled beside the other man and shook him lightly until he woke. Opening his eyes slowly Neal felt his stomach churn as he bolted upright and moved away from Peter and became sick. Moving over Peter rubbed Neal's back softly as he spoke calmly. "I'm right here Neal…I'm going to get you home," he said as he looked away from Neal and noticed the chain on Neal's ankle. Once his stomach was empty Neal sat up and looked at his mate shaking slightly.

Grabbing an abandoned screwdriver Peter used the hammer he was holding to break the cuff around Neal's ankle and pulled the other man into his arms to calm him down. Slowly calming down Neal closed his eyes and took in the deep scent that was Peter. Standing up slowly Peter helped Neal to his feet and put his arm around Neal's waist and walked him toward the stairs. Doubling over Neal felt his legs give out under his weight. Catching Neal before he hit the floor Peter lifted the other man into his arms with his werewolf strength. "Why don't you let me carry you," he said softly as he made his way out of the pub. Cringing Neal gripped Peter's arm and started to gag. Putting Neal down his feet Peter held him steady while he retched into a painter's bucket on the edge of a booth. Once he was done dry heaving Neal rubbed the tears from his eyes and let Peter help him out of the pub.

* * *

After flagging a cab Peter helped Neal into it and gave the driver their address in Brooklyn. The trip was made in silence to let Neal rest with his head on Peter's shoulder. When the cab arrived at its destination Peter paid the driver and helped Neal inside. Feeling better than before, Neal dragged his feet as he went to the basement stairs to change out of his suit. He quickly stripped down to his boxers before shedding those as well and leaving them on the floor. Neal slipped on his sweat pants before crawling into bed and pulling the covers up to his shoulders as he tried to ignore the dull ache in his abdomen and back. Peter came down a few moments later and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Neal I need to know what happened for the report I need to write up about this incident," Peter said hoping that nothing serious happened "Nothing happened…he just demanded I tell him about the four lost painting and when I wouldn't tell him he knocked me out and you found me," Neal lied as he tried to hide the truth from telling Peter. Moving his hand onto Neal's exposed shoulder Peter rubbed it lightly getting the other man to look at him. Peter had a gut feeling that in his gut something was very wrong. "I'm going to give Doctor Evert a call and see if he can make a house call. I want him to check you out," he said getting up from the bed. Neal instantly began to internally panic. "You don't have to do that Peter, I'll be fine with some bed rest; I just got a little shook up is all," Neal lied again hoping to keep away from all doctors.

Not taking Neal's no for an answer Peter pressed the speed dial for their doctor and neighbor as he took a step back when Neal made a grab for the phone to stop him.

"John, it's Peter from down the road I was wondering if you could come by at some point today. Neal's not well and being stubborn about it, you will… thanks I'll see you in half an hour," Peter said as he hung up and leaned over Neal and kissed his temple noticing he felt a little warmer than usual. "Take a nap I'll come check on you later," Peter said softly as he watched Neal drift a bit. Grabbing Peter's hand Neal held it for a moment. "Peter…thanks for caring about me…could you maybe stay with me until I fall asleep?" Neal asked softly as he tried to fight the urge to sleep.

Peter nodded and kicked his shoes off and sat on top of the covers with Neal. "Mom's got the kids napping upstairs. Would you believe it that I caught her on Amazon ordering a billion things for the kids, at the rate she is going we're going to need a bigger house just for the toys alone," he remarked and looked down when Neal didn't respond. Smirking at the fact Neal had fallen asleep already he got up silently avoiding the toys littering the floor and made his way upstairs to wait for the doctor.

When their doctor finally arrived Peter led him downstairs where he was told to stay behind. "I'm going to go check on the kids, I'll be back in a bit…"Peter said uneasily looking over at Neal who looked quite pale at the moment. The scent of blood mixed with the usual scent of baby powder. Heading back upstairs Peter chewed his bottom lip in worry so hard it began to bleed. Moving around the room trying to keep busy Peter strained to hear the words being spoken downstairs but found the daily noise of birds and cars made it impossible to hear anything especially with both doors shut. Sighing Peter sat down before he drove himself nuts.

After almost two hours Peter looked up when the basement door opened. Jumping to his feet Peter looked at the doctor. "Jeez John what took you so long… is Neal alright?" Peter asked in a very worried tone. "Peter we need to talk, Neal swore me to secrecy but I feel you should know this as his doctor and for his own mental wellbeing; he has suffered a miscarriage, physically he'll heal soon but mentally this could take a while and he needs all the support you can give him," the doctor said threw a hand out to stop Peter before he rushed downstairs. "The thing is as a werewolf he should have been healed by now and he wasn't healing at all. I'm worried about him so I took a blood sample with great difficulty; like he's trying to hide something, I'll run the blood at the hospital and call you in a few days…" he said as Peter led him to the door.

Shutting the front door and locking it Peter went downstairs and saw Neal curled on the bed the scent of blood was gone. Seeing the new sheets peeking out from under the comforter on the bed Peter kept his mouth shut as he went over to the large bed and sat down. Pulling the comforter back Peter slid into bed beside Neal and held him close. Letting out a shuddering breath the younger man grabbed the fabric of Peter's shirt tightly and pulled himself closer and buried his face against Peter's chest and let himself be held. "I'm here…I'm not going anywhere until you're sick of the sight of me," Peter said softly as he began to rub Neal's shoulder with his thumb very gently.

* * *

Holding Neal until he was sure that the younger man was asleep Peter moved him until he was tucked under the blankets. Kissing his temple softly he got off the bed and closed the door behind him and went upstairs; he closed the door just as his parents and Elizabeth came downstairs holding the children. "How's Neal?" Karen asked worried about the younger man Peter sighed softly as he took Christian from his father. "Neal suffered a miscarriage…he's pretty upset at the moment, he fell asleep about two minutes ago. He needs his rest for now and I would prefer it if no one brought it up and let Neal be the one to bring it up," Peter said softly as he fixed the shirt on Christian and made his way to the couch and sat down.

"Oh God…the poor thing..." Karen said softly as she put the babies on the floor so they could play with one another. Putting Christian down as well Peter sighed and sat forward and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't believe this happened, we haven't even talked about more kids… I guess it just happened during the last mating season" Peter said softly. Elizabeth stood quietly for a moment thinking something over. "Uh how often is mating season?" Elizabeth asked curious about the werewolf physiology.

"It's once a year usually in the late spring or early summer; but the litters are like a real wolf which are five to six pups so just the four we had was small," Peter said looking at his kids playing on the floor.

"Peter, if you and Neal keep it up we will have to buy a bigger home to house them all and then how can we feed and clothed them...is there such a thing as birth control among werewolves?" she asked calmly "I'm not trying to sound mean or insensitive but if you have another litter of even four, you'll be up to eight kids and the bank accounts will be drained in two weeks," Elizabeth said. "I know… but it's not like I can take him to the vet and get him spayed…" Peter remarked as he stood up and went over to the twins and pulled them apart from scratching and biting each other.

As the day continued Peter began to worry about Neal's actions towards getting blood drawn earlier in the day. Heading downstairs he found Neal sitting up in bed and holding his leg against his chest. Moving quietly behind him Peter sat down and put his arms around Neal and held him tightly. "I'm sorry… I didn't know how to tell you," Neal said softly. Peter closed his eyes and put his forehead between Neal's shoulder blades and sighed softly. "You have nothing to apologize about…I should be the one apologizing to you, I'm your mate I should have protected you better…" he said pulling Neal closer and holding him tightly. Starring at the bed Neal sat unmoving as he was so unsure of how to respond.

"Neal, if Markus wanted information from you then why were you alone at the pub when I found you?" Peter asked the question that had been nagging him for some time. "I'm not sure…I don't really want to talk about it right now," Neal mumbled rolling into a tighter ball. Pulling the younger man into his arms Peter sighed he knew that when Neal started closing himself off it was a real fight to get him back. "You're staying home a few days… it's the doctor's orders, also you should come upstairs to eat," the older man said as he let his arms fall away.

Shaking his head Neal looked at the comforter. "I'm not hungry right now…besides how could you want me anywhere near you?"

"What are you talking about Neal? If it's about the miscarriage I don't care it only matters that you're alive. Don't you know that you and the children are the most important things in my life? Before you ask Elizabeth and I do love each other but we're not really in love anymore and that it is not your fault!" Peter said softly. Neal nodded softly and reclined into Peter's arms. "Peter if something happens to me would you raise the children as art lovers?" Neal asked as he put his hand in Peter's. "Neal nothing is going to happen to you and you're going to teach them all about art… just hopefully not how to steal it…" Peter remarked with a soft chuckle"You're right… they're going to be great little art thieves…when they grow up of course, but you have to promise me just in case," Neal said as he squeezed Peter's hand.

Taking in a deep breath Peter put his head against Neal's. "Alright if anything happens to you I will raise them to love art," Peter promised as he moved Neal back down onto the bed so he could rest. "I'll bring you something to eat and I want you to eat it all," he said looking Neal over getting worried about the way he was talking. Leaving the basement Peter went upstairs and got some leftover brown rice out of the fridge and warmed it up. _Neal's hiding something could what happened to him? Is it worse than what he's telling us?_ Peter thought as he went back downstairs and found his mate waiting for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own except for the plot and my own chars, **

**Hope you all enjoy and don't be afriad to review it helps me to know what you liked or didn't like **

**Chapter 3**

**Day 10-9**

After eating the small dinner Neal abandoned his room after Peter had gone upstairs to shower and gather his things to move downstairs. Making his way upstairs Neal found the living room empty. Walking over to a group of paintings he had given Elizabeth for her birthday he sighed softly and began to take them down and lay them out on the dining room table. "You gave everyone a real scare," Robert said coming out of the kitchen making Neal jump and drop the painting but using his cat like reflexes he caught it before it hit the floor. He put it back on the table. "I know… I'm sorry, I should have let Peter know about the pregnancy but I was scared of how he would react, I just didn't want him to abandon me," Neal said as he twisted the end of his shirt in his hand. "So care to explain your act of theft right now?" Robert asked taking a swig of his beer.

Neal looked at the four paintings and shook his head. "I can't say any-" Neal stopped at the look Peter's father gave him; it was the same one Peter would give him when he was caught in a lie. Sighing loudly Neal sat at the dining room table and traced his finger over the edge of the simple frame around the closest painting. "Peter and I are working on a case dealing with these paintings. When they join together they make a map to a treasure…when I was living with my old pack our alpha Vincent trained me in art, thievery and conning. We looked for these paintings for eight years and I told him I couldn't find the last four. I lied to him when I told him that and I hid them in a storage locker, but I knew they weren't safe there so I gave them to Elizabeth as a birthday present but now I need them," Neal said keeping his head down in shame.

"So instead of telling my son that the last four paintings you need for the case are here you're going to steal them for the money?" Robert asked taking a seat across from Neal. "I'm not doing it for the money…at least not for myself… it's for Peter and the kids. I love my family and I want them to have money when something happens to me… I mean if it happens, knowing my luck I could get hit by another car," Neal said trying to cover up his slip of the tongue. "No you meant what you said… what's going on Neal are you in trouble?" Robert asked his fatherly intuition kicking in.

Looking up Neal was at a loss for words and shook his head lying again. "Peter and I have a risky job, white collar criminals are usually not dangerous but some can be when backed into a corner… if our secret got out about werewolf nature then we're fair game to silver bullets and knives, that's why I want my children to have something if something happens to one or both of us," Neal said softly hoping Robert bought the lie. "Alright I can see this isn't going anywhere but let me give you some advice, Peter doesn't like to be lied to and eventually he will find out what you're doing I just hope you're willing to risk everything you have here for any amount of money," Robert said as he got up and made his way upstairs where his wife was reading to their grandkids.

Neal lowered his head again and sniffed lightly and rubbed at his nose, feeling something wet he pulled his hand back and saw blood smeared over the side of his hand. Getting up quickly from the table Neal rushed into the kitchen and washed his hand off before he grabbed some paper towels to stop the bleeding. _I guess this is how it starts… a bloody nose and it will probably end with total organ failure in nine days…Nine days to find the treasure, spend time with my children and show Peter how much he means to me,_ Neal thought as he pulled the towel away and folded it to a fresh side as he put it back against his nose.

Moving to the couch Neal sat down and thought back to years earlier when Vincent had taught him about the paintings. Putting his head back as he tried to remember everything Neal heard Peter's distinct footsteps coming from the second floor. Quickly stuffing the bloody paper towel out of sight Neal checked his reflection in the lamp base next to him and wiped the last of the dried blood away and hoped the scent was out of the air since all he could smell at the moment was his own blood.

Peter looked over at the couch when he noticed Neal sitting alone. "Hey, you're looking better… I take it you're going to stay up for a while after all those naps you took?" Peter asked removing the towel from around his neck and dropping onto the couch beside the younger man. Neal forced a smile and nodded. "Just for a while I've got a few things I want to do…but you should get some rest you look really tired," Neal said as he hoped to keep Peter from getting too nosy. "I'll go down when you do, I want to spend some time with you," Peter remarked not bringing up the paintings on the table.

* * *

Getting up from the couch Peter held his hand out until Neal took it. Standing up Neal stood in front of Peter and looked into his eyes. "Come on, that king size bed is just calling our name for a good sleep, we could go get the kids first and put them to bed together," Peter said softly trying to judge Neal's mental status. "I'd like that… a lot…" Neal said as he went upstairs with Peter and found their children curled up asleep against one another. Picking up Willow and Christian with ease Peter scooped up Gabriel and Michael. Bidding good night Neal made his way downstairs and put their children in their cribs lined up against the wall and tucked them in to keep away the cold.

Peter followed suite and put the other two to bed as well and tucked them in before moving to the king size bed against the other wall with Neal at his side. "Are you going to tell me why I smelled blood on you upstairs…"Peter said as he started to get ready for bed.

"I got a bloody nose; the air was too dry it's nothing serious I swear Peter…" Neal lied as he crawled to the head of the bed to watch as Peter looked at him. Nodding Peter got up from the bed. "I forgot something upstairs, get into bed I'll be back in a minute," Peter said dashing back upstairs and grabbing his cell phone off the counter. "John its Peter… sorry for calling so late but Neal just had a nose bleed is that something to worry about?" he asked not sure anymore. "I just started the blood tests today I won't get the results in for a couple days Peter. If he starts to cough up blood get him to the ER immediately, but a bloody nose is nothing to worry about for now so go to bed and call me if he's worse in the morning," John said calmly taking Peter down from his worries.

"Thanks John… sorry again, I hope I don't have to call you in the morning," Peter said before hanging up and head back downstairs where he found Neal sitting on the middle of the bed waiting for him. Getting into bed Peter put an arm around Neal instantly feeling the raised body temperature coming from the other man. Wrapping himself around the younger man to try and sweat the heat out of him Peter reached behind himself and turned the lamp off before nuzzling into Neal's shoulder taking in every scent that clung to him searching for the one he wouldn't recognize so he could categorize it as the man who kidnapped his Neal.

* * *

Peter fell asleep wrapped around Neal making sure Neal knew that he was aware he was safe at home. Neal laid awake for most of the night listening to everyone around him sleep until five when Neal finally dropped into the dream world and slept for all of sixty minutes before Peter's alarm clock went off to get him up in time for work. Groaning Neal tried to sit up but found his body was too tired to even hold itself up. Managing to roll over Neal forced his eyes open to see Peter looking down at him. It took his mind a few seconds to realize that Peter was saying something to him but he was too tired to listen. Drifting again towards sleep Neal jumped when Peter pinched him earning the other man a strong slap to the face. Stunned to say the least Peter opened his mouth to say something until he realized Neal was sound asleep.

Closing his mouth Peter gathered their children with a little bit of a juggle and got them all upstairs in one trip without dropping any of them. Putting them by their toys and grabbing the few noisy ones he went to the kitchen to make coffee. Turning the corner Peter found Elizabeth dressed and ready for work. "Hey, how's Neal doing this morning?" Elizabeth asked handing a cup of coffee over to Peter. "He's sleeping; I have a feeling he didn't sleep well or at all last night since he's kind of in a grumpy mood to say the least. I will admit he slaps pretty hard when he wants to," Peter said rubbing his already healing cheek.

"Just let him sleep and when you get home from work tonight I'm sure he'll be fine and back to normal…and if he doesn't remember what he did don't harp on it you'll make him feel horrible about it," Elizabeth said giving Peter some advice. "Yeah, I should get going I don't want to be stuck in traffic. Would you mind asking my parents to watch the kids today and make sure Neal eats something I have to go," Peter said putting the coffee mug down and saying goodbye to each of the children before leaving quietly.

As he drove to work in silence Peter never really realized how boring everything was without Neal's constant chatter in the car or the elevator. Walking out of the elevator Peter walked past Neal's desk and into his office, glancing over at the photos of him with the children and Elizabeth; he smirked at the couple hidden meaning ones of him and Neal at the Christmas party where Neal was sitting on Peter's lap with a Santa hat on and the one from Christmas morning where they sat with the children opening gifts of course from the angle of the shot it wasn't seen that Neal was holding Peter's hand.

Hughes walked in looking for Peter's shadow as Neal had been nicknamed. "He's not here if that's what you came to ask me," Peter said answering the unasked question. "As long as you can still work without him, that Markus case needs to be solved quickly Peter, while I know it would be easier with Neal in solving it. However you will have to do it now that he isn't here," Hughes said calmly as he left the room. Peter wanted to groan and throw himself out the window. He missed Neal with a passion, by this time in the day Neal would have brought him coffee and shamelessly flirted with him left and right and a quite a few comments that would force Peter to resist making out with him in an empty office.

Closing his eyes and rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes Peter stopped after a moment and jumped from his chair and rushed to Diana and Jones's desks and looked at them. "I need photos of all twenty paintings in ten minutes," Peter said as he started to gather the team in the conference room looking for any information on all twenty paintings to see if there was a photo somewhere of all of them somewhere. "You're in charge I'll be back in an hour," he said looking at Diana as he took off in flash, keys in hand.

Heading to the park near the office Peter looked around for a familiar face after ten minutes he spotted the short bald man he was looking for by the chess tables. Sitting across from him Peter looked right at Mozzie. "What do you know about those four paintings Neal gave Elizabeth for her birthday?" he asked skipping the pleasantries. "Hello to you too Suit… they are original J.J. Markus's also known as the four corners Neal found them and had them hidden eight years ago and he felt that it would be better to hide them in plain sight," Mozzie said as he moved a pawn.

Peter reached over and moved a pawn knowing the only way to get more information was to play Mozzie in chess. "Neal told me he stole the paintings when Adler forced him to look for them, of course he lied and told him that they weren't where they thought they were. Neal did it for the money; he wanted the money to get away that life," Mozzie said stating what Peter was thinking. "So when he gave the painting to Elizabeth it was because he has given up or was it more for safe keeping?" Peter asked. "He gave up after he met you he's been trying really hard to turn his life around… you have to realize Suit that conning and stealing are like a drug and Neal's been an addict for years, " Mozzie remarked.

Thinking as Mozzie made his move Peter looked at the other man as he moved his piece. "Tell me everything you know about J.J. Markus and those paintings," Peter replied as he moved his knight "Interesting subject, according to history J.J. Markus struck it big and found a lot of treasure but during the depression nothing really had a lot of value or a market to buy it so he hid it in the city somewhere. So he wouldn't forget where he put it he painted a detailed map and cut the map into twenty pieces that only makes sense when put together in a specific arrangement. There is a way of doing it and Neal figured it out years ago… it's by the dates, but not the normal date it's some formula, of course not seeing as many of the paintings as Neal has I don't know what that formula is. If you have four of the paintings that are the four corners of the map and your files say eleven are now missing that just leaves five left somewhere… it also means that sooner or later J.J. Markus' grandson, Jake, will figure out Neal has four of them. Make no mistake he'll try to steal them from you by any means," Mozzie said as he moved his queen diagonally down the board.

"How dangerous is this man?" Peter asked feeling his gut clench in worry at the answer as he moved his knight into place. "Dangerous enough to take the queen down to distract the king," Mozzie said as he took Peter's queen and put him in checkmate. Looking down at the board Peter felt sick. "I take it that the queen is Neal and I'm the king," Peter remarked as he helped to gather the pieces. "In your eyes you're the king and queen but in his eyes you're just pawns…" Mozzie said dumping the last of the pieces into the box and getting up from the table.

* * *

After leaving the park Peter walked back to the office stopping along the way for coffee. When there was no message concerning the blood samples Peter returned to the office and began working on a few other small cases until it was the middle of the afternoon. Looking at the clock Peter found it was quarter after three and grabbing his phone he called home to find out how Neal was doing. After a couple rings Peter was greeted by his mother. "Hey Mom, how's Neal doing?" Peter asked as he glanced at the pictures on his desk again.

"I would assume he's fine; he's been downstairs all morning sleeping or at least I assume he's still sleeping; by the way the kids are doing fine. Most of the things I ordered for them came today so they have been keeping busy with all their new toys," Karen said as she stepped over a large pile of toys.

"Mom, could you do me a favor? Please go and check on Neal?" Peter asked worried about how long Neal has been asleep. He heard his mother as she put the receiver down and hurry away. When he heard the faint footsteps returning before the phone was picked up. "Peter… he's still asleep. But there is blood all over his face and neck. It looks like he had a bloody nose but there's so much blood and he's burning up," Karen said controlling the worry she was feeling. "I need you to go downstairs and wake Neal up. Be careful because he lashes out a bit. Just get him cleaned up and dressed I'm coming home right now and I'm taking him to the hospital," Peter said as he hung up and began to dial Dr. Evert's number.

Gathering his things as he waited for the other line to pick up Peter jotted a note down for his team to keep working and that there was an emergency at home he had to take care of. "Peter, I was just about to call you, Neal's blood work came in, and he's negative for all usually tested poisons. Is there anything you can think of that he could have been exposed to something that's poisonous to just your kind?" John asked. "I don't know I'm calling because I just called home to check on Neal and my mother said he's been asleep all day he's had an even worse bloody nose and he's burning up… I'm bringing him to the hospital before it gets worse I need you to meet us there," Peter said as he grabbed his coat and keys and rushed out of the office.

"I'm going to call ahead and get him into a room right away. I'm going to need to run more lab work. I'll see you in half an hour," John said hanging up. Jamming his phone into his coat pocket Peter moved into the elevator and pressed the down button and tapped his foot like a jackrabbit as he rode the elevator down to the parking garage to get into his car in record time. Starting his car up and driving smartly Peter made it home by catching every traffic light at the right moment. Turning the car off Peter went inside and found his mother waiting for him. "I can't get him out of bed, when Elizabeth came down to help he started yelling he wasn't going back to some man named Vincent and then he somehow managed to squeeze under the bed and now we can't get him to come out," Karen said as she walked her son to the top of the basement stairs.

Peter held a hand up and went down the basement stairs himself and looked around the room for a moment, the tangy smell of blood and sweat were in the air as he moved closer to the bed and got down on his hands and knees. Looking under the bed he found his mate breathing heavy and a glazed look in his eyes. "Hey…why don't you come on out Neal?" Peter asked in a calm voice as he held his hand out and waited for Neal to take it. When he felt the other man grab his hand Peter carefully pulled him out from under the bed and put his arms around him and held him close. "It's okay…I promise he's not going to get you, I'm going to take you to the hospital now you need to get some medical help," Peter said still speaking in a calm voice knowing that Neal would be lulled into a state of calmness.

Neal shook his head and began to pull away only to find Peter's arm tighten around him. "Neal… you're sick you have to go to the hospital, please…I don't want you to get sicker," Peter said as he wrestled Neal against the bed and pinned him there and used his strength to hold him there as he continued to struggle and whine like a trapped animal. "Let me go…Peter… let…go…"Neal whined louder as he began to weaken in his struggle to get free. Peter kept his hold on Neal making sure that it wasn't a trick. "No, I'm not letting go, Neal you're very sick I need to get you help I know you hate doctors and hospitals but you have to go. I'm sorry but I don't want to lose you," he said placing a couple kisses on Neal's forehead and feeling the intense fever boiling beneath.

"He'll kill you if I don't give him what he wants," Neal mumbled as he put his head against Peter's shoulder. It took Peter a moment to register what his mate had said and closes his eyes slowly. "It's okay babe, if he comes after me I'll take care of him, but you need to get better… if you're worried about the kids nothing will happen to them I promise," Peter said as he stroked Neal's sweat soaked hair until was docile and drifting between being awake and asleep. Taking advantage of the moment Peter got Neal unsteadily to his feet and helped him change into some dry clothes before going to the bathroom and cleaning the blood off his face and neck.

* * *

Once Neal was cleaned and finally dressed in some clean comfortable clothing Peter struggled to get the younger man upstairs and out to his car. After ten minutes Peter forcibly seat belted Neal into the back seat and immediately engaged the child safety locks on both doors before getting behind the wheel and driving to the hospital. When they arrived Peter opened the door for Neal and helped him out of the car. Walking into the brick building Peter hated hospitals but he didn't mind the one he was currently standing in front of since it was a private hospital that usually catered to the wealthier. It was also the only place where he and Neal didn't have to worry about their secret since it was a smaller setting than the larger more crowded hospitals.

Getting inside Peter grabbed Neal's hand tighter and brought him to the front desk. "Dr. Evert to the front desk, and can I have a wheelchair to the front desk as well," a young nurse paged over the PA system at the sight of Neal. After a couple moments an orderly arrived with a wheel chair. Sitting Neal down Peter held Neal's hand as the orderly moved Neal out of the admitting area as Dr. Evert arrived. "I've got a room ready for you; it's on the top floor and it's private as I promised," Dr. Evert said as he walked to the elevator with Peter and Neal.

After arriving at Neal's room and getting Neal into bed the exam began. Two minutes into the exam Neal toppled off the bed and clawed at the orderlies and Peter as they held him down for another set of blood samples. When the four small vials were filled finally the orderlies pulled away with majority of them rubbing their arm or chest where Neal had punched, kicked or clawed with all his might to get away. Peter sat on the floor with Neal's head in his lap as the drugs the younger man had been slipped after the blood drawing started to take effect. Neal whimpered lightly in his sleep as the orderlies put him to bed and strapped his arms down with soft restraints. Peter glared at the restraints but he knew they were more for safety when Neal woke up.

Taking the seat by the bed Peter took Neal's hand and held it, he could feel the fever all the way down to Neal's fingertips. Waiting quietly Peter looked up when he felt a twitch in Neal's hand as he slept. Peter watched the red headed nurse string up a bag and put the I.V. needle in the back of Neal's hand carefully. Opening his mouth to ask what she was giving Neal she turned and smiled at Peter. "It's just something to help him get his fever down and I was going to hang a bag for fluids since he has lost so much but it would be better if you can get him to drink something," the nurse remarked as she looked at Peter. "I can try when he wakes up, he's partial to the fruit punch ones I'll pick some up after he's awake," Peter said not looking up from Neal's face.

"Does he prefer one brand over the other?" the nurse asked.

Shaking his head Peter didn't dare pull his eyes away from the younger man. "I'm going on my break in a few minutes. I'll get some from the shop down the street," she said before leaving the room. Peter finally sat up and cracked his neck. Neal had been asleep for just about an hour when he started to stir and opened his eyes. "Hey there…" Peter said as he felt Neal pull his hand away. Feeling the restraints against his wrists Neal tried to get out of bed with little success. "They had to strap you down; you attacked us when we tried to take a blood sample," Peter remarked as he lowered his eyes.

"Neal if you know what's wrong with you please tell the doctors. I don't want you to get worse… even if you don't tell them they will find out eventually what you were poisoned with babe. I want you to watch the kids grow up and I want to grow old with you," Peter said softly. "I can't be here Peter, I have to get those paintings to Jake or else…or else he'll hurt the children…" Neal said softly. "No he's not, because if he even thinks about hurting them I'll kill him myself," Peter remarked thinking back to the conversation they had back home that Neal had been too lost in his fever to remember as he stroked Neal's hair the fever under his hands still feeling just as hot.

* * *

After another hour the red-headed nurse returned with a small shopping bag and handed it to Peter. "I got a couple, maybe you can try and get him to drink at least a couple ounces; I'm sure doctor Evert would appreciate it," she said before leaving Peter and Neal alone. "She's right babe you need to drink something you've been asleep all day," Peter said as he undid the soft restraints and helped Neal sit up. Uncapping one of the sports drinks and held it out to Neal. Taking the bottle and sniffing it lightly Neal sipped it and realized how thirsty he was. Tipping his head back he gulped the drink like it was the last one on earth until he choked and started to have a coughing fit that started to get out of control. Peter put his arms around Neal and rubbed his back until the coughing subsided. "Go easy there, we want you to drink it now drown in it," Peter said with a weak smile as Neal nodded and handed the empty bottle to the nurse who was standing by the bed still.

When the nurse left Neal played with the sheet on his bed and gave a small left over cough just as Dr. Evert walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "I was finally able to narrow down the poison in your system by looking into none traditional poisons… and I found that your system is filled with Aconitum better known as wolf's bane…but I think you know that already Neal… you're a smart man you would never eat it or go near it which explains the needle mark on your neck. If you know something I should know tell me now," Dr. Evert said looking at the younger man on the bed. Giving both men a look Neal lowered his eyes and gave a tiny nod that had known the whole time.

"Peter could I speak to you out in the hall for a moment?" John asked motioning for Peter to follow him out of the room. When they were alone Peter motioned to walk down the hall out of Neal's earshot. "The levels of Aconitum in his system are lethal in fact he should be dead but I believe it was diluted to last longer and make him suffer, Peter… treatment usually is activated charcoal but that's for ingestion, but because Neal was injected it's a shady area of treatment even as a werewolf it makes it more lethal even. I think you should prepare yourself for him not surviving this. I'm going to do the best I can to flush his system and if we have to we'll resort to hemprofusion then we must to save his life. Think of it like a fish filter cleaning the toxins from his blood, I just hope we caught this in time because the symptoms after this are not pleasant," John said putting a hand on Peter's shoulder.

* * *

Waiting to make sure the room was going to stay clear Neal yanked the needle out of his hand and pulled himself out of bed. Standing unsteadily on his feet Neal walked over to the window and looked out at the small garden on the roof of the wing two floors below. Grabbing the sheets from his bed Neal struggled to tie the ends together and to the arm of the chair before tossing the makeshift rope out the window. Using the chair Neal climbed out the window and slid down the rope until it came loose. Falling the last four feet into a pile of dirt behind the few bushes lining the old brick wall Neal groaned and rolled onto his side biting his cheek to keep the coughing fit bubbling in his chest from coming out.

Keeping his breaths shallow until the cough dissipated Neal got up and dusted his pants off before he moved slowly toward the door back into the hospital. Going into the building Neal walked around like he was going back toward his room as he kept an eye out for something to change into. Seeing the laundry room was empty Neal ducked into the room and found a pair of scrubs in his size. Changing into the scrubs with great difficulty Neal left the laundry room and ripped the band off his wrist and tossed it aside as he fixed his hair and kept his head down while he made his way back to the front doors and out of the hospital. Getting out with a couple nurses Neal made his way down the street to the closest hideout of Mozzie's.

Knowing that Mozzie hung to the city more Neal broke into the hideout and dropped onto the couch in the corner of the room. Shivering at the sweat soaked scrubs Neal stripped the top off and tossed it aside and fell back onto the couch the cracked leather surface sticking to his sweat covered skin. Shivering at the cool leather Neal rolled so his face was buried in the back of the couch and drifted into an uneasy sleep as he waited knowing that Mozzie had all his hideouts wired to alert him when someone came in.

* * *

Practically dragging himself back to Neal's room Peter thought about what the doctor had said about preparing himself for Neal not surviving the poisoning. Opening the door it took Peter's mind all of ten seconds to realize that Neal was gone and the sheets were stripped off the bed and hanging out the window. Rushing out of the room Peter stopped the closest nurse and informed her of Neal's escape. After leaving the room Peter began to search for Neal's scent until he caught it and followed it to the pile of hospital issued sleepwear and the wrist band.

Grabbing the wristband off the floor Peter left the hospital and immediately began to sort out the millions of scents in the air trying to find Neal's before it vanished. Just as he made it to the closest intersection the scent vanished with the multiple car exhausts. Waiting for the cars to clear Peter felt a cold breeze that cleared the air with no scent belonging to Neal. Not willing to give up Peter picked a direction and started to head down the sidewalk hoping to catch his mate's scent somewhere.

_"He has to be indoors somewhere by now…that's why I can't smell him…damn it Neal why are you being so selfish," _Peter thought as he continued down the sidewalk trying to think of how far Neal could get on his own. After walking four blocks Peter knew Neal couldn't make it that far and turned around and headed back to where he began to go the other way hoping he would find Neal soon and get him the medical treatment he needed. Finally reaching the intersection he started at Peter looked down the way he was going and gave another quick sniff in the hopes that Neal's scent was stronger that way. Unfortunately by the time he got to the end of the block Peter Neal's scent was nowhere to be found.

Returning to the hospital Peter paced outside before punching the brick wall breaking three of his knuckles in his right hand. Slowly unclenching his fist he looked at his hand as it began to heal due to his lycanthrope abilities, angry at the fact he couldn't stay hurt Peter punched the wall until his hand was covered in blood with no sign of injury. Waiting as the blood dried Peter thought about anywhere Neal would go, _He would go somewhere safe…he was complaining about a headache on the way here so it would be away from light or very little light…_ Peter thought as he got into his car and drove home. Barely finishing parking Peter was out of the car in a hurry and went inside looking for any sign of Neal just to be sure and found nothing except for a note from his mother saying she and his father took the kids to the park for a while. Looking at the clock Peter realized it was only twenty minutes after two. It felt later to the agent, dropping onto the couch Peter put his head down and tried to think about where his mate would go to hide.


End file.
